Mike Di Scala
Mike Di Scala | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Michael Pasquale Di Scala |
| Also known as | Whelan & Di Scala, Ultrabeat, Rezonance Q, Re-Con |
| Born | 5 April 1981 Liverpool, England |
| Genres | house, electro |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, singer-songwriter, disc jockey |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | BCD, All Around the World, 3 Beat, Raver Baby, Twista |
| Associated acts | Ultrabeat, Rezonance Q, Whelan & Di Scala, E-Squire |
Michael Pasquale "Mike" Di Scala (born 5 April 1981) is a British electronic musician, record producer, disc jockey and singer-songwriter from Liverpool, England.
Solo career[edit]
Di Scala's career began as a disc jockey in Liverpool and he began producing music after studying Music Technology at Liverpool Community College Arts Centre.[1] His early productions were hardcore tracks recorded as DJ Re-Con in the late 1990s and later Di Scala became the engineer at his own recording studio in Liverpool – BCD Studios. In the early 2000s he produced numerous Scouse house tracks using several aliases such as One Long Sausage, Sumo, Maximum Hustler and Masta Blasta UK that were released on his own label BCD Records.
In 2003, Di Scala resumed recording under the name Re-Con and began disc jockeying at hardcore events such as Hardcore Til I Die. Re-Con released several singles on Hixxy's Raver Baby label and appears numerous times on the successful Bonkers and Clubland X-Treme Hardcore series. In 2009 Re-Con and Squad-E founded their own label Twista Records on which they release their material and the two also began mixing the Hardcore Til I Die series for Universal Music TV. In 2011, Re-Con and Demand released the album Reasons – The Album.[citation needed]
Using his own name, Di Scala produces house music and has recorded tracks such as "Touch My Body" (2006) with Crellin, "Turn My Life Around" (2007),"Space & Time" (2008) with Colin Airey and "Bye" (2011) with Offbeat.[citation needed]
Rezonance Q[edit]
In 2001, he started his own record label BCD Records with Lee Butler and Les Calvert and the group began recording as Rezonance Q. Many of their early recordings were remixes and mash ups of old club songs and the producers pioneered the Scouse house genre of the early 2000s. In 2002 a bootleg remix of Mariah Carey's "Someday" gained the interest of All Around the World and Rezonance Q signed to the label.[2] After re-recording the vocals with Nazene Langfield,[2] the track was released as a single in February 2003 and became a top 40 hit reaching No. 29 on the UK Singles Chart.
Using the alias BCD Project, in 2003 the group released a bootleg version of "Do You Know" (incorporating elements of "Children" by Robert Miles) on Boss Records which reached No. 129 in the charts. The following year a new version was released by Angel City featuring Lara McAllen which reached No. 7 in the charts. BCD Project also released a remix of Rainy Davis' "Sweetheart" which reached No. 163 in the charts in 2003. This was later re-recorded and released by Rezonance Q on All Around the World in 2004. BCD Records continued to release records until 2006.[citation needed]
Ultrabeat[edit]
Mike Di Scala formed Ultrabeat in 2002 with fellow Liverpool disc jockeys and producers Chris Henry and Ian Redman. With a common interest in late-1990s happy hardcore music, the group decided to enter Di Scala's studio for recording sessions[3] and the group's first release was a double A-side 12-inch single "Sonic Burnin'" / "Boomcore" released on BCD Records in January 2003. Following the success of Rezonance Q's single "Someday", All Around the World then signed Ultrabeat after Di Scala played their recording of "Pretty Green Eyes" (a cover of Force & Styles) during a meeting in his studio.[4]
After being released in August 2003, "Pretty Green Eyes" became a top 10 hit reaching No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and was also performed live on Top of the Pops.[5] The two follow up singles "Feelin' Fine" (2003) and "Better than Life" (2004) both achieved top 30 chart positions[6] and the group's debut album (provisionally titled Better than Life: The Album) was expected to be released around this time.[7] However after Ultrabeat's next single "Feel It with Me" failed to reach the top 40 plans for the album were shelved.
In April 2006, Ultrabeat returned with "Elysium (I Go Crazy)" (sampling Scott Brown's "Elysium") which was their first single recorded by new vocalist Rebecca Rudd. The song charted at No. 38 the track was well-received with MTV Dance viewers voting the music video as the number one on the Galaxy Chart.[8][9] The next single "Sure Feels Good" was a collaboration with Darren Styles released in August 2007 which reached No. 57 in the charts. Following this the group released their debut album in September 2007 the band released their album, Ultrabeat: The Album which peaked at No. 8 in the UK Albums Chart. Ultrabeat embarked on a tour in supporting Cascada (who are also on the AATW label). Their seventh single, "I Wanna Touch You", was released on 4 February 2008.[10][11]
Whelan & Di Scala[edit]
In 2003, Di Scala became a resident disc jockey at Society nightclub in Liverpool[12] where Les Calvert and Dave Whelan were already disc jockeys. The trio began producing house music as The Chosen Few and founded the Adhesive record label (a subsidiary of All Around the World) in 2004. Following this Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala began producing together using various names such as The Bassline Hustlers, Da Mode and Men from Mars. The duo had a club hit with "Shot Away" (which sampled "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones) using the name Pawn Shop[13] and the single reached No. 100 on the UK Singles Chart in 2006.
Following this they began producing using the name Whelan & Di Scala and have recorded with vocalists such as Nikki Belle and Abigail Bailey. Through their own labels Bachelor Pad Recordings and Vice Records the duo recorded numerous progressive house tracks. In 2011, Whelan & Di Scala became the resident disc jockeys at their own nightclub Mansion in Liverpool.[citation needed]
In 2010 the two started producing as a side project called CamelPhat, their debut being "Kill The VIP EP" on Vice Recordings. CamelPhat would be Whelan & DiScala's side project for some time until 2014 when Spinnin Records signed their track "The Act" to their Spinnin Deep sub-label. CamelPhat then became the duos main project and the Whelan & DiScala alias was essentially abandoned. The last release by Whelan & DiScala was "Rest of your Life" on Chillbeat Records, this track would be remixed by Darren Styles in 2015 and credited as Styles & Re-Con.[citation needed]
Solo discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
- Studio albums (as Re-Con)
- Reasons – The Album (2011)
- DJ mix albums (as Re-Con)
- Hardcore Til I Die 2 (2004)
- Bonkers 15: Legends of the Core (2005)
- Bonkers 16: Maximum Hardcore Energy! (2006)
- Best of Bonkers (2007)
- Hardcore Til I Die (2008)
- Hardcore Til I Die 2 (2009)
- Hardcore Til I Die 3 (2010)
- Clubland X-Treme Hardcore 8 (2012)
Singles[edit]
| Year | Single |
|---|---|
| 2003 | "So Emotional" (as Masta Blasta UK) |
| "Don't You Want Me" (as Masta Blasta UK) | |
| 2004 | "Like a Dream" (as Maximum Hustler) |
| 2006 | "Shot Away" (as Pawn Shop) |
| 2007 | "Turn My Life Around" |
| 2008 | "Space & Time" (with Colin Airey) |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |
Aliases and groups[edit]
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References[edit]
- ↑ "Scouse in the House". Liverpool Echo. 30 May 2003. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "From Panto to Club Hit". Liverpool Echo. 21 February 2003. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ↑ "Clubland Podcast April 2007". UMTV/AATW. Retrieved 20 April 2007.[dead link]
- ↑ "AATW Ultrabeat Artist Page". AATW. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
- ↑ BBC.co.uk
- ↑ "AATW Ultrabeat Artist Page". AATW. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
- ↑ "Clubland Ultrabeat Artist Page". UMTV/AATW. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
- ↑ "Ultrabeat". All Around The World. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
- ↑ "Ultrabeat Top the Galaxy Chart". MTV. Archived from the original on 20 September 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
- ↑ "Ultrabeat v Darren Styles – Sure Feels Good". All Around The World. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- ↑ "Clubland AATW Ultrabeat Artist Page". AATW. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
- ↑ "Mike Di Scala Biog". societyuk.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2005. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ↑ Emma Johnson (14 April 2006). "DJs Just a Shotaway from Chart Success". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
External links[edit]
- Mike Di Scala discography at Discogs
- Mike Di Scala at AllMusic
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